We Need More Cowbell

The Daily News profiles cowbell man, the latest in the storied history of long-suffering Mets superfans:

The New York Mets were down seven runs by the seventh-inning stretch to the worst team in the National League one recent night, and it seemed the only thing keeping fans inside steamy-hot Shea Stadium was the promise of post-game pyrotechnics.

But even a pummeling at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t stop scoreboard-blind superfan Edwin (Cowbell Man) Boison, who continued to roam the stadium, pounding out the beat to the battlecry of Shea: Lets Go Mets!

“I think it’s awesome that there is a guy who is this dedicated to the game and the Mets — it’s exciting,” said Rich Laconi, 24, of Astoria, who had asked Boison to pose for a picture.

Not to be left out of the photo shoot was Laconi’s friend, Aileen Tlamsa, 24, also of Astoria. “I want to thank you. I have a picture of you in my cell phone from last year’s Fireworks Night,” she told Boison.

“It’s always my pleasure to take pictures with fans,” the affable Boison remarked after taking off his signature “Cowbell-Man” Mets jersey so Tlamsa could model it for the picture. “I want them to feel like they’re having a good time at the ballpark and have something to talk about when they leave — even if the Mets don’t win.”

For the last 11 seasons, regardless of the standings, the score, the opponent or the weather, Boison, 48, has pounded beats all over Shea, logging more miles each game than Mr. Met, the team’s official mascot.

“I’ve always been a people person,” he said, when asked to explain his high-profile hobby. “I go in there as ‘Cowbell Man’ to represent the team and the fans. I consider myself a superfan.”

. . .

Yet while his crowd-roving percussion act has pushed him to the brink of icon status at Shea, Boison has learned that there is a downside to being a superfan. Because of complaints from a few season-ticket holding fans on the loge level, section 5, Boison is forced to bypass this section entirely during his stadium wanderings. As one Shea stadium employee put it, the detour is the result of “an uneasy truce” brokered between the two sides.

“He’s an arrogant pain in the a–,” said Bill Brownsell, 53, an anti-Boison Mets season-ticket holder in section 5.

“He’s more interested in promoting himself,” chimed in section-mate Eric Michalak, 47, who flies up from his home in Cape Coral, Fla., to attend Mets games. “There are a lot of people who would rather not have him here.”